Alone in the Dark reboot release window slides back to 2024 to avoid Alan Wake 2 and Spider-Man
It had been due out for Halloween
Alone in the Dark’s reboot will skip the scares of Halloween in favour of the bleak terrors of January, as publishers THQ Nordic announced that their star-studded revival of the classic horror series has been delayed to 2024.
THQ Nordic made no bones about the reason for the delay: its fear of the number 2. The publishers’ announcement directly name-checked the likes of Alan Wake 2 (which was itself delayed) and PlayStation 5 exclusive Spider-Man 2 as contributing to the decision to release on January 16th next year rather than its original release date of October 25th.
“Our intention is to avoid competing with the wake of Alan's epic release and to evade the dazzling skyline of cities adorned by the graceful swings of Spider-Man,” they said. “We aim to truly remain as Alone in the Dark as possible.”
THQ added that the extension would also allow developers Pieces Interactive to add some additional development polish and “meticulously perfect the gaming experience”.
Alone in the Dark’s upcoming reboot emerged into the light last summer, showing off a reimagined vision of the 1992’s spooky Derceto Manor. It also has some fairly big names attached in the form of David Harbour - aka Jim Hopper from Stranger Things and Hellboy in the Hellboy movie you didn’t see - as Detective Edward Carnby and Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer as Emily Hartwood.
Behind the camera is Amnesia: The Dark Descent writer Mikael Hedberg, who will rearrange the pieces of the seminal horror game to follow Harbour’s Edward and Comer’s Emily as they creep through the manor to discover what happened to Emily’s uncle.
If you’re looking to pass the time between now and January - and somehow won’t be spending it playing one of the many, many games coming out - Alone in the Dark released a free standalone Prologue chapter for the reboot earlier this year to give you a taste of its reimagined take on the classic.